Here comes ICD-10
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
CMS issues a proposed regulation Aug. 15 to adopt ICD-10 diagnosis and procedure codes effective Oct. 1, 2011. The code set would replace 30-year-old ICD-9, used by health care providers, payers and other stakeholders for billing, tracking and other purposes. Device groups have long urged an "expeditious" switch to ICD-10, which is already used in most other countries and offers more than 155,000 codes to ICD-9's 17,000, in order to better incorporate new technologies (1"The Gray Sheet" July 31, 2006, p. 18). Payers have asked for more time to make the switch, but CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems told stakeholders last October to begin making transition plans. Comments on the proposed regulation are due Oct. 21